GE Announces Winners of 25th Annual GE Edison Awards

GE Consumer & industrial presented the 2007 GE Edison Award to Enrique Peiniger and Jean Sundin of Office for Visual Interac-tion Inc. (OVI), based in New York, for lighting the U.S. Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Va.

Lighting the memorial was a highly technical challenge. Each spire rises to a different height (201 feet, 231 feet and 270 feet), has a dif-ferent footprint and contour, and offers a small surface area to be illuminated. Additional challenges included wind effects and Federal Aviation Administration requirements.

OVI used extensive lighting calculations to determine the most suitable aiming positions, product selections and wattages. Lumi-naires concealed behind granite walls are calibrated to illuminate each arc in a precise gradient, culminating in a burst of light at the tip. Completing the lighting for the top of the spires, metal halide luminaires with spread lenses are cleanly detailed into the granite paving.

Accurately aiming spotlights across a distance of over 328 feet required a creative approach. Precision lasers were attached to the lumi-naires, allowing pinpoint aiming to calculated positions along the spires’ contours. Specialist climbers scaled the structures, verifying that the spotlights met the required light levels.

A prestigious panel of five judges selected this year’s winning entry for its superiority in the following categories: functional excellence; architectural compatibility; effective use of state-of-the-art lighting products and techniques; appropriate color, form and texture revelation; energy effectiveness; and cost effectiveness.

The winning project was one of three Awards of Excellence finalists. The other Awards of Excellence winners were Naistenlahti Power Plant, Tampere, Finland, designed by Roope Siiroinen, Arto Heiskanen and Heini Ylijoki of VALOA Design Ltd., Tampere, Finland; and African Burial Ground, New York, designed by Domingo González and Nancy Lok of Domingo González Associates Inc., New York.

Four awards of merit and one award for sustainable design also were presented at the GE Edison Award ceremony in Las Vegas.

The GE Edison Award competition, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, is open to lighting professionals who creatively employ significant use of GE light sources (lamps and/or LEDs) in a lighting design project completed during the previous calendar year.